Malegaon blast: There is no evidence against Sadhvi Rithambara

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency NIA has dropped terror charges against all accused, including sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, in the Malegaon blast case.

The NIA has taken the stand that there is no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur.

NIA has also put the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad in the dock over its handling of the Malegaon blast case after the second Malegaon blast in 2008 as it has been accused of resorting to torture to extract confessional statement from the accused and for invoking of MCOCA provisions against them without evidence. Since the anti-terror provisions of Maharshatra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused in the Malegaon case has been dropped, Purohit and nine others will now be tried under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act, and the Explosive Substances Act.

The NIA has recounted a number of shortcomings in the supplementary chargesheet filed today in a special court in the case of the 2008 Malegaon blast.

The NIA has pointed to the confessional statement before the magistrate by one of the accused – Sudhakar Dwivedi. According to him, his confession was extracted through torture.